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Best Friend Next Door
Printz Honor and New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Mackler brings honesty and charm to this story of a friendship between two girls. Meet Hannah. Her name is a palindrome. Her birthday is on New Year's. She wishes she had a cat. She's medium height and a little awkward. Her life has NOT been fun lately -- her dad and stepmom are having a baby and, worst of all, her best friend next door just moved away. Now a new girl is here, taking over her best friend's bedroom . . . and her own identity.Meet Emme. Her name is a palindrome. Her birthday is on New Year's. She loves her enormous orange cat. She's so short that last week she was mistaken for a kindergartner. She's found moving hard . . . but at least there's the girl next door, Hannah. Maybe they'll become friends?While Hannah and Emme are alike in so many ways, they're also different in some wrong ways, too. Is this the perfect friendship . . . or a recipe for disaster?From award-winning writer Carolyn Mackler comes a funny, smart story about finding out who your best friends are, in good times and bad.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2015
41 people are currently reading
760 people want to read
About the author
Carolyn Mackler
24 books980 followersCarolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book), Infinite in Between, Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Carolyn's novel, The Future of Us, co-written with bestselling author Jay Asher, received starred reviews and appeared on several bestseller lists. Carolyn has also written Best Friend Next Door, a novel for younger readers. Carolyn's novels have been published in more than twenty countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia.
Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Her new novel for teens, The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, will be published in May 2018. This is the long-awaited sequel to the Printz-honor winning novel, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.
Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Her new novel for teens, The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, will be published in May 2018. This is the long-awaited sequel to the Printz-honor winning novel, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
September 25, 2015
It's a cute book, but the real draw for me was the totally normalized two moms of one character. I'm still so thirsty for representation. When will we get a queer girl in tween lit? Not that we have so many middle-school queer guys, but at least there's Joe in Totally Joe and Nate in Better Nate Than Ever and Frederick in So Hard to Say.
June 7, 2015
Ten-year-olds Hannah and Emme both love the color blue, hate pizza, have January 1st birthdays, and enjoy competitive swimming. So when Emme moves in next door, she's fast friends with Hannah. But friendships have their ups and downs, and they're chronicled in this book spanning six months of Hannah and Emme's fifth-grade year.
I struggled with this book, even though it's the kind of middle-grade book I tend to like the best: realistic and focusing on friendships and families. But the book's lack of a coherent story really hurt it. Is this a book about bullying, or about making new friends but keeping the old, or about adjusting to a new sibling, or about adoption, or about moving to a new town, or about pet health scares, or about changing relationships with extended family? All of these "big issue" things were addressed, but few were given any meaningful treatment that left young readers something to think about. There were vignettes of Hannah and Emme's everyday lives, but no overarching theme to tie everything together the way the most successful slice-of-life books have. It almost felt like Carolyn Mackler was going for a Beverly Cleary sort of book, about the everyday lives of ordinary kids, but missed the mark in some way that I can't put my finger on.
As far as the characters go, I had a lot of trouble with Hannah in particular - her "but I'm not going to be the only child anymore!" reaction to her stepmother's pregnancy seemed very juvenile, much more like what a six-year-old might have.
On the plus side, Mackler does a good job incorporating families that aren't the traditional nuclear one - Hannah's dad has full custody of her and she's never known her birth mom, stepmom Margo having been married to her dad since she was one; Emme has two moms. I also liked how Mackler showed that even though friends' interests change, it doesn't mean that friendships themselves need to. Unfortunately, these positives aren't enough to push this disjointed book into "must recommend" territory.
I struggled with this book, even though it's the kind of middle-grade book I tend to like the best: realistic and focusing on friendships and families. But the book's lack of a coherent story really hurt it. Is this a book about bullying, or about making new friends but keeping the old, or about adjusting to a new sibling, or about adoption, or about moving to a new town, or about pet health scares, or about changing relationships with extended family? All of these "big issue" things were addressed, but few were given any meaningful treatment that left young readers something to think about. There were vignettes of Hannah and Emme's everyday lives, but no overarching theme to tie everything together the way the most successful slice-of-life books have. It almost felt like Carolyn Mackler was going for a Beverly Cleary sort of book, about the everyday lives of ordinary kids, but missed the mark in some way that I can't put my finger on.
As far as the characters go, I had a lot of trouble with Hannah in particular - her "but I'm not going to be the only child anymore!" reaction to her stepmother's pregnancy seemed very juvenile, much more like what a six-year-old might have.
On the plus side, Mackler does a good job incorporating families that aren't the traditional nuclear one - Hannah's dad has full custody of her and she's never known her birth mom, stepmom Margo having been married to her dad since she was one; Emme has two moms. I also liked how Mackler showed that even though friends' interests change, it doesn't mean that friendships themselves need to. Unfortunately, these positives aren't enough to push this disjointed book into "must recommend" territory.
July 8, 2015
This book is a perfect example of why parents really need to be vigilant about checking on what their kids are reading. This book is geared towards elementary school children and yet lesbian parents are a huge part of the storyline in an obvious way, not the way parents and teachers are usually secondary benign characters in children's literature. I quit reading at page 36, where one poor confused girl is talking about the characteristics the girl inherited from both her moms...sad that she is too young to realize that is a physical impossibility... somewhere, even if it is just a sperm donor, there is a father this girl has inherited characteristics from, not from two women. I just kept picturing her shocked face a year later in sex ed class. Books for elementary school children that contain homosexuality should be labeled so that parents have a choice in what they are buying.
June 4, 2015
This was really good and HURT me. It just gets so much right about feeling jealous and left out, mean girls, and I kind of want to go curl into a little ball right now and cry about the things that were missing from my childhood life.
I'd give it five stars, but I needed to put me back together a little at the end and it left me hanging.
But it did remind me that I should read more Mackler. She can get me emotional in ways that very few authors do. (I'm one of those robots.)
I'd give it five stars, but I needed to put me back together a little at the end and it left me hanging.
But it did remind me that I should read more Mackler. She can get me emotional in ways that very few authors do. (I'm one of those robots.)
November 20, 2025
The truth is it was an amazing book 📖 and was full of surprises and was also predictable at the same time! But anyway it was a great book 📚
October 29, 2015
Best Friends Next Door was about this girl named Hannah and another girl named Emme. Their names are palindromes. Hannah is a medium height and a little awkward. Her birthday is on New Years. Her life has not been fun lately. Hannah wishes she had a cat and her best friend next door moved. Meet Emme her birthday is on New Years and she has an enormous orange cat. Emme is so short she was mistaken for a kindergartner. She just moved Next door and it's really hard for her. Will they become friends?
My favorite part was when they kept making new palindromes. In my opinion this book was interesting.
My favorite part was when they kept making new palindromes. In my opinion this book was interesting.
June 18, 2018
If I could rate this book a 10, I would. This book shows a lot of change in emotion, like some parts are dramatic, some are happy, some are sad. But the whole book was awesome. Hannah and Emme are awesome. You should read this book.
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April 10, 2023It’s been what…around 6 years since I read this? weird
June 5, 2020
It is such a good book! I have read it so many times!
November 6, 2025
This book is almost nostalgic for me. I read for the first time prolly abt 1 yr ago right after we moved. I clicked with it rly easily
October 10, 2015
I think it was a great book about friendship
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June 11, 2022i read this in maybe 2016-2017? i don't remember 😔. my friend gave it to me, and i think i still have it!! i can't rate it because it's been so long since i've read it, but i thought it was nice and enjoyed it at the time 😌
January 8, 2021
I liked this book because when it was a new chapter there would be one of the people than back to the other person. I do not know if that makes sense or if it did. This book makes me want to read it alot of times! This book is awesome in my opinion.
September 21, 2016
Me and my friend read this for a book talk. i wasn't to interested but people who enjoy books about happy friends ship building. The book wasn't to long and but did drag on a bit. Over all i wouldn't read again
November 8, 2015
{My Thoughts} – Hannah is a ten year-old girl that is forced to deal with a lot of change in her life at the same time. Her best friend next door named Sophie moves to Canada. Her step mom adopts her. Her parents tell her she’s going to be a big sister. A new little girl moves in next door in Sophie’s old house.
Hannah doesn’t know how to deal with everything in her life that is changing. It takes her awhile but she does eventually warm up to the new girl next door. It turns out that her and Emme, the new girl, have a lot in common.
Both girls wear the same shirt the day they meet, they both hate pizza, both love to swim, both share a birthday and have names that are palindromes.All of these things and more help them to become close and best friends.
This book is about their friendship mainly, but also about how they both at the young age of ten work through all the things they are going through. They work through everything with help from one another. They get along and are best friends most days, but they do have the occasional disagreement. They are the product of what a real friendship is suppose to be like. I think that many children can learn a lot from reading this book and I can’t wait to see what my daughter thinks about it in the near future. There are so many valuable lessons within the pages of this book, that I am certain any child that reads it will have a different take on some of the everyday issues that they deal with on a normal basis.
Hannah doesn’t know how to deal with everything in her life that is changing. It takes her awhile but she does eventually warm up to the new girl next door. It turns out that her and Emme, the new girl, have a lot in common.
Both girls wear the same shirt the day they meet, they both hate pizza, both love to swim, both share a birthday and have names that are palindromes.All of these things and more help them to become close and best friends.
This book is about their friendship mainly, but also about how they both at the young age of ten work through all the things they are going through. They work through everything with help from one another. They get along and are best friends most days, but they do have the occasional disagreement. They are the product of what a real friendship is suppose to be like. I think that many children can learn a lot from reading this book and I can’t wait to see what my daughter thinks about it in the near future. There are so many valuable lessons within the pages of this book, that I am certain any child that reads it will have a different take on some of the everyday issues that they deal with on a normal basis.
July 6, 2025
Best Friend Next Door is a charming, appealing friend-drama story. Very relatable characters.
A few things to note:
-Whoever designed the cover clearly did not read the book!
-This is not what I would call a thrilling book. The plot twists are not very surprising, the pace is slow, and the plot is almost episodic. This is more of a sweet, comforting, nearly-year-in-the-life story.
-Everything in this book is appropriate for all ages. There is no foul language or sexual content of any kind. If you are offended by the casual, not-made-a-big-deal-of inclusion of Emme's having two moms, the problem is you, not the book.
Definitely recommended! The author has written for American Girl, and as a matter of fact several of this books' subplots, like the camp drama and the collages, are recycled from or inspired by some short stories Mackler wrote for American Girl magazine. This book should appeal to that audience.
A few things to note:
-Whoever designed the cover clearly did not read the book!
-This is not what I would call a thrilling book. The plot twists are not very surprising, the pace is slow, and the plot is almost episodic. This is more of a sweet, comforting, nearly-year-in-the-life story.
-Everything in this book is appropriate for all ages. There is no foul language or sexual content of any kind. If you are offended by the casual, not-made-a-big-deal-of inclusion of Emme's having two moms, the problem is you, not the book.
Definitely recommended! The author has written for American Girl, and as a matter of fact several of this books' subplots, like the camp drama and the collages, are recycled from or inspired by some short stories Mackler wrote for American Girl magazine. This book should appeal to that audience.
December 21, 2014
Captures perfectly the ups and downs of a close friendship. Perfect for those who have a best friend (not all do or need or want one). Charming.
February 22, 2022
Best Friend Next Door is one of those books I don't remember acquiring. For me, this happens more with e-books than with physical editions. My e-reader (Wendy) hosts a variety of titles that I picked up at some point and which I have no clear memory of. Among those, several are by Carolyn Mackler. While I've enjoyed some things she's written, the number of titles is a perplexing, which is why I decided I'd better start reading & reviewing them so that I can move on to other authors.
The other Carolyn Mackler books that I've read have all been Young Adult titles. I was curious how she'd handle younger characters. I found Hannah and Emme and all their similarities to be a little grating, so was quite pleased when part of the conflict was over them coming to like different things. This wasn't delved into in any great depth, but it still felt realistic and interesting.
As a person with a history of being the friend who moves away, I felt for Sophie, especially as she seemed to completely disappear from the middle of the novel. Of course, as soon as I'd articulated that thought to myself, Carolyn Mackler brought her back and tied her neatly into the plot. She didn't have as much of a personality as the main characters, but I was glad that she hadn't been forgotten entirely.
Best Friend Next Door was pleasant, but it didn't grab me. That may be partly to do with not being the target audience, and having no history of reading this book when I was, but I think it also has to do with not gravitating towards these types of characters or these types of stories. I'm not sure I would have felt any more strongly for this book as a child than I do now.
The other Carolyn Mackler books that I've read have all been Young Adult titles. I was curious how she'd handle younger characters. I found Hannah and Emme and all their similarities to be a little grating, so was quite pleased when part of the conflict was over them coming to like different things. This wasn't delved into in any great depth, but it still felt realistic and interesting.
As a person with a history of being the friend who moves away, I felt for Sophie, especially as she seemed to completely disappear from the middle of the novel. Of course, as soon as I'd articulated that thought to myself, Carolyn Mackler brought her back and tied her neatly into the plot. She didn't have as much of a personality as the main characters, but I was glad that she hadn't been forgotten entirely.
Best Friend Next Door was pleasant, but it didn't grab me. That may be partly to do with not being the target audience, and having no history of reading this book when I was, but I think it also has to do with not gravitating towards these types of characters or these types of stories. I'm not sure I would have felt any more strongly for this book as a child than I do now.
September 24, 2017
Listened to the audio. I am not particularly a fan of Tara Strong's voice work here. She does this weird nasally thing that's especially jarring because the other narrator doesn't do it at all. (Tara Strong is the voice actress for Raven from Teen Titans, so just imagine a book being narrated that way. It's also annoying because, as you can see by her extensive resume, that's a choice she made for this particular character.)
So yeah, that's my least favorite part of the book.
My favorite part is probably Hannah saying she wants to be referred to as a "former only child" instead of a big sister because that is the kind of pettiness I can get behind.
Anyway, this is very slice of life and the focus is on female friendships and what it means to build a best friendship and also what it means to have a best friendship change. You know, plus the chaos of adolescence, which for these two include moving to a new city (Emme) and awaiting a new sibling (Hannah). The dual narrative works well here, especially before they become friends and after they have their big fight.
Oh and, as always, I am here for kids realizing they're in over their heads and going to adults for help.
So yeah, that's my least favorite part of the book.
My favorite part is probably Hannah saying she wants to be referred to as a "former only child" instead of a big sister because that is the kind of pettiness I can get behind.
Anyway, this is very slice of life and the focus is on female friendships and what it means to build a best friendship and also what it means to have a best friendship change. You know, plus the chaos of adolescence, which for these two include moving to a new city (Emme) and awaiting a new sibling (Hannah). The dual narrative works well here, especially before they become friends and after they have their big fight.
Oh and, as always, I am here for kids realizing they're in over their heads and going to adults for help.
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September 24, 2020The book Best Friend Next Door is about two girls named Hannah and Emme (both palindromes) who live next door to each other. At first they weren’t really friends but when Emme’s cat runs away to Hannah’s house, they start talking. Over the course of the book they find out they have a lot in common. They both hate pizza, love palindromes, are on the swim team, and more. Even after a fight during winter break, they make up and still remain best friends!I think that the theme is true friendship. I know that is a very general theme but they really were best friends. They told each other everything and did everything together. Even when they were mad at each other, they still felt bad and wanted to go back to being best friends.The theme “True friendship” connects to the world because I think everyone has a best friend. Everyone counts on their best friend, loves them, and would do anything for them, just like Hannah and Emme.I would recommend this book to people in 4th grade-7th grade. For anyone that wants to read about something happy and make you feel good i think this is the book for you. It’s full of emotions and it was a really fun read!
January 17, 2018
Best Friends Next Door
Meet Hannah. Her name is a palindrome. Shes born on New Years Day. She is also on the Swim team. Her friend used to live next door. She moved to Canada. Now there is a girl named Emme living in that house. You see,there quite in common. Hannah has also been going through a lot as well. She's even starting to LIKE pizza!(WHO DOESN'T LIKE PIZZA!!!!!)
Meet Emme. Her name is a palindrome. Shes born on New Years Day. She is also on the swim team. She has taken place of Hannah’s old neighbor who moved to Canada (a.k.a. Hannah’s friend). Emme hasn't found moving in easy, she was/has been bullied for the past couple weeks, and didn’t tell anyone about it till later on when it has gotten worse. But when she meets Hannah, they see that they are pretty much in common. Except Emme has a cat.
They also call themselves the og twins, and in swim practice, they write that on their legs!
July 4, 2021
Audiobook Review: Best Friend Next Door by Carolyn Mackler
Rating: 2 big rainbows and 3 stars 🌈🌈⭐🌠🌌
Content Warning: Bullying
So the two rainbows are because of the lesbian moms! They were a big surprise that I really enjoyed and thankfully there was no homophobia so I really enjoyed that. This is a perfect book for kids experiencing big changes ; the characters go through so much that you'd think there'd be too much for it to make sense BUT it all works so well together. Even though the book was only like 4 hours I long ; I felt like I knew these families very well and watched them grow! This is very well written and one of my new favorite kid's books! I HIGHLY recommend ; the narrators were really good too!!
Rating: 2 big rainbows and 3 stars 🌈🌈⭐🌠🌌
Content Warning: Bullying
So the two rainbows are because of the lesbian moms! They were a big surprise that I really enjoyed and thankfully there was no homophobia so I really enjoyed that. This is a perfect book for kids experiencing big changes ; the characters go through so much that you'd think there'd be too much for it to make sense BUT it all works so well together. Even though the book was only like 4 hours I long ; I felt like I knew these families very well and watched them grow! This is very well written and one of my new favorite kid's books! I HIGHLY recommend ; the narrators were really good too!!
May 20, 2017
Best Friend Next Door by Carolyn Mackler was a emotional book. I loved it! It is a book I know most girls can relate to! This book starts when it talk but Hannah, her name is a palindrome, she loves peanut butter anything, her birthday is New Years Eve, She hates pizza, and she wishes she has a cat! Meet Emme, her name is a palindrome, she loves peanut butter anything, her birthday is New Years Eve, She hates pizza, and She has an enormous orange cat! The two girls are almost like twins! But that doesn't mean they will get along! I recommend this book o all readers who like books that they can relate to!
August 9, 2018
Although this book wasn't gripping to me as an adult, my 5th grader enjoyed it enough to insist that I read it too. I liked how Emme having two moms was treated just as a fact of life. The inclusion of palindromes was fun. It's a good story for upper elementary kids because it deals with how friends might change but still remain friends.
August 14, 2020
I read this for the first time when I was in grade 5 and just reread it a few days ago and it was still just as good. I love how it normalized a character with two moms, when I was in grade 5 and didn’t know much about the LGBTQ+ community I never thought too much about it. Which is great, Emme having two moms was just a normal thing that nobody questioned. Anyways, great book 👍🏻
June 5, 2021
This is a good book about friendship. When Emme and Hannah first meet, they can’t seem to get along. Emme is willing to become friends but Hannah is having trouble adjusting to the fact her best friend moved away and her family received news (good for her parents, hard on her). Even with their rocky start, can they look past or bond over their similarities?
July 13, 2017
214 pages. A story about a girl who is starting fifth grade in two weeks. She learns her step-mother is pregnant. There is some discussion about this. One of her new friends has two moms. It is pretty edgy content for elementary . Skip this one. Not recommended.
March 8, 2020
I liked this book a lot because even though the friends were on-and-off friends they kept going with their friendship. When Hannah came over to help butterball and Emme when he was sick, they soon became friends again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 16, 2020I first read this when I was 8,and it is still a great choice.
Best Friend Next Door
Best Friend Next Door
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2022
Lol! I took this book from my daughter's desk. She is a young reader but Im also not old! I always love reading children's classics, and this book brought me back so many memories of my best friend decades before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews